


Watching Through Windows

by SuddenWhispers



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, Young Dimitri, Young Edelgard, pre-game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 13:06:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20564819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuddenWhispers/pseuds/SuddenWhispers
Summary: A first meeting between the future Emperor of Adrestria and King of Faerghus and how they view the world through their own respective windows.





	Watching Through Windows

**Author's Note:**

> My first (and rashly written) FE3H fic! My writing is rusty since I'm in school so often so I'm looking for Beta Readers if anyone would be willing to read my future FE3H fics! Enjoy~

Edelgard was tired of watching the world through windows. It seemed as if she would be destined to watch her life pass before her eyes through the reflections of its glass.

She rose from her bed and moved toward the giant window across the room she had been given by the King of Faerghus. The window was nothing short of grand, the way it stretched from floor to ceiling draped with deep velvet curtains that was sure to heat up the room during the summer months. Despite its grandiosity, it paled in comparison to her rich red embroidered ones from the Empire and a sort of homesickness rose from Edelgard’s stomach.

There, during that cool and fateful morning in the month of the Great Tree Moon, she sat and recalled with unease the events of the previous night.

Edelgard had been snatched from her bed by her uncle with little more than the clothes on her back and was told to run. From what, she did not know until she was already long gone from her castle of a home, long gone from her chambers, long gone from her father. 

She had watched the scenery change as her uncle’s midnight carriage took her from her home in Enbarr up north towards the Kingdom. Trees had morphed from their tall, lanky stature to a more thick pine and the fields of home that once undulated across the horizon were now stomped flat. She had seen it all through these windows.

And now she sat at a giant window at the foot of the Kingdom, a foreign land nothing like her own. The awe of such differences existing even within the same continent had made her feel smaller than she already had been feeling, given the destiny she was meant to fulfil.

To become the Emperor of Adrestria - what did that even mean? Surely if it meant becoming a puppet figurehead moving at the whim of those beneath her just as they had done her father, it was a life she was not looking forward to having.

Edelgard propped her head against her hand on the table and continued to watch her life pass in changing hues of blues, pinks and purples, uncertain if the turmoil in the sky would be the last view she would be seeing for the rest of her life. 

—

Dimitri was sure he would never tire of watching that window. 

The third window on the first floor from the Eastern Gate had always been quite mysterious, but it was even more so since the carriage from the Empire arrived in the fog of morning. 

From his own window on the second floor by the Southern Gate, he could see it all. 

Dimitri drew back the curtain windows and gazed at the tulip fields laid across the castle grounds. Every morning he was blessed to be able to marvel at the maze of accompanying carnations in the spring, the crops of hydrangea in the summer, and the change of leaves in the fall and winter. His father had always told him to count his blessings, for many commoners in the Kingdom could not even spare the time to stop and smell the roses, both literally and figuratively. 

But Dimitri was more curious about the window. 

From the other side: a girl from the Empire graced with bewitching hazel hair and hazel eyes as she sat in the same spot day in and day out, watching the day pass, almost as if she were waiting for her life to pass her by. 

By no means did she seem happy. Those hazel eyes were lifeless and unfocused, glazed over with boredom and lack of ambition. 

Dimitri understood. Such was the life of many nobles, especially those forced against their will for the higher gain of their parents. More often than not had he seen brothers and sisters of his peers married off or promised to other noble families in exchange for land, money, or other dowry. 

But as long as she was in the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, she would be his responsibility, visitor and citizen alike. It was his sole duty as heir to the throne, as said by his father, to watch over the people of the Kingdom, regardless of race or background.

Dimitri stood up, straightened his robes, and headed for the door. He would make sure that his visitor would be attended to. 

—

When they finally met, the sky above was a bright lavender. It was a meeting of colors, the way the meeting between people could be so full of magic and hope for the future. 

Theirs had been a chance meeting under such a sky, fresh dew emanating from the softened soil. The sun had barely made it over the horizon and the chill of dawn had a pleasant bite to it. 

Edelgard was caught red-handed, sitting against the open windowsill that had barred her from the Kingdom to breathe in the crispness of the Kingdom air. Perhaps she could not leave her quarters, but they could not control the air she breathed. 

Had she known there would be other nobles awake and walking across the dew soaked field, she would have dressed the part to avoid disdainful eyes. 

But little did she know of the prince that casually walked across the field in robes of his own. Little did she know that he was the prince of the Kingdom at all.

And little did he know of the beautiful stranger, the heir to the Empire, sitting on the third windowsill from the East Gate. 

All they knew was that they were secretly eager to talk to one another. 

“It is too lovely a morning to be sitting inside as you do,” Dimitri said mid-bow. 

Edelgard returned the favor. “Indeed. But there is little I can do about this state, as I am only a visitor to the Kingdom with nowhere to go and nothing to do but listen to my uncle’s words.”

“Surely a noble like you has better things to do than to follow orders,” Dimitri said matter-of-factly before catching himself. “Excuse me, that was presumptuous of me.”

She shook her head. “No, you are correct in your assumption. Both of them. I am a noble with absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to go. But you would be wrong to assume I asked it this way.”

“Then come with me,” Dimitri eagerly offered.

Edelgard raised an eyebrow. “Whatever for?”

“To the Main Square. It is my duty to know the needs and wants and daily lives of the people. How will I know how to help them in the future otherwise?”

“How admirable, but I think not. You do know that I’m quarantined here under word of my uncle and most possibly the King, do you not?”

“Under word of my father?” Dimitri asked in a poor attempt to hide his shock. “I apologize for misjudging your situation. Please forgive me.”

Dimitri was sure she thought of him a fool now. 

Edelgard placed her hand on her chin. “That means you’re the Prince. Well, prince or not, I will not be following you today. Perhaps I will forgive you and allow you to show me how you intend to serve your people if you were to talk to your father about letting me leave this boring old room.”

But Dimitri could tell that she certainly was no fool. 

“Spoken like a crafty merchant. I hope we can get along.” He offered his hand in a gesture of introduction. “My name is Dimitri. You have my word that I will speak to my father in your stead.”

She graciously took his hand, swinging over the side of the windowsill and hopping onto the wet cobblestone. “You may call me Edelgard.”

“I thought you weren’t allowed to leave your quarters, Edelgard?”

She turned back, a mischievous smile creeping from the corner of her lips. “What the nobles don’t know can't hurt them.”

Dimitri could only watch as she strolled down the cobblestone paved path as if she owned it. He imagined having to spend the rest of the summer with a girl of such fiery temperament and felt his spirits raise for the challenge. 

Edelgard left the window wide open.


End file.
